Referendum on Character Counts!

... and other things.

Among other things, the School Board election is a referendum on the adoption of a higher standard of conduct than the law. Students and their adult role models, would then be held "accountable" to those standards.

There are many standards of conduct. It could be argued, there are as many standards of conduct as there are people. This discussion will be limited to the widely recognized, accepted and respected standards.

They are all higher standards of conduct than the law; the lowest standard of conduct accepted by civilized people.

There is no higher standard of conduct, that does not rest on truthtelling; the responding to any legitimate question by answering candidly, forthrightly and honestly.

When the question is; will you tell the truth?
any answer except yes, means no.

If you want truthtelling within public service, then you have to insist that politicians and public servants have to answer the question.

Consider that if you go into a courtroom to testify, you are expected to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yet the people who wield control over every bit of your powers and every penny of your resources, never have to look you in the eye, raise their right hand and swear to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the ethically redacted truth about the public interests and about their public service.

Those words by the way; candid, forthright, and honest, come from the Pillars of Character Counts!. They come from the APS student standards of conduct.

That stopped making any difference to the leadership of the APS, the night they removed from their own standards of conduct, the phrase and obligation;

In no case, shall the standards of conduct for an adult,
be lower than the standards of conduct for students.

The Pillars of Character Counts! are not a legally enforceable standard of conduct. That is the conclusion of the State Auditor and the Attorney General.

The fact that they solemnly promised to step up as role models of the student standards of conduct, even during the measly few hours of their public service, and then reneged upon that promise, is not "illegal".

They are accountable only at election.

If transparent accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence wins in that election, then politicians and public servants will be transparently accountable, not only at the next election, but for every minute of every hour of every day of their public service.

Transparent accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence within public service meets every legitimate need.

There is no legitimate agenda that does not move forward on the day that government is transparently accountable to the people. There is no agenda that does not move forward on the day stakeholders take their seat at the table where decisions are made.

The Pillars of Character Counts! are one of a number of worthy standards of conduct. I have been considering it carefully since 1993, when I spent three days listening to Character Counts! Founding Father Michael Josephson.

Haven't seen him since.

If we chose, we can establish a government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people. That government cannot under standards of conduct that do not include truthtelling.

A commonly told tale, is meant to encourage children to step up to honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence.

If we really want them to do that, there is a sacrifice we must make on their behalf. We have to walk the talk; we have to hold ourselves honestly accountable to meaningful standards of conduct and competence. In our personal lives we are accountable to the stakeholders in our personal lives. In our public service, we accountable to the people.

There is no one of us as qualified as all of us together.

When you wake up Friday January 14 you will remember where you were the evening before.

You will remember having participated meaningfully in decision making that affects your interests, or you will remember doing something else instead.

What will you say one day, when a child asks you where you were on the day the people retook control over power and resources that are fundamentally their own?